Batting first after winning the toss, Kenya were dismissed for 142 inside 43 overs, and Sri Lanka made light work of the chase by overhauling the target within 19 overs, led by an unbeaten half-century from Upul Tharanga.

For the associate nation, brothers Collins and David Obuya put up some resistance with 52 and 51 respectively after the early dismissal of the openers Maurice Ouma and Seren Waters inside the third over. But once the Obuyas' 94-run stand, spanning almost 30 overs, was broken, Kenya slipped from 102 for two to 142 all out.

It was Malinga who broke the partnership by yorking Collins Obuya, and a couple of quick wickets saw Kenya slip to 128 for six. Malinga then wrapped up the tail by picking up four wickets in five balls.

Tanmay Mishra was lbw to the last ball of the fast bowler's seventh over and Peter Ongondo and Shem Ngoche were both bowled with the first two balls of his eighth. Elijah Otieno survived just two deliveries to give Malinga his career-best figures in international cricket.

In the 2007 tournament, Malinga took four wickets in four balls against South Africa. He remains the only bowler to achieve such a feat.

His compatriot Chaminda Vaas, Roach, Brett Lee of Australia, Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq and Chetan Sharma of India are the only other bowlers to have taken World Cup hat-tricks.

Chasing 143 for victory, Sri Lanka blazed to 100 off 13.4 overs after losing Tillakaratne Dilshan (44), who was caught-behind off Otieno in his bid to hasten the triumph.

The right-hander bludgeoned the Kenya attack, hitting eight boundaries in his 30-ball innings, and Tharanga carried on in a similar vein as he brought up his 19th ODI half-century with the help of 12 boundaries. Tharanga (67 off 59 balls) and Kumar Sangakkara (27 off 24) then rattled off the required runs to take Sri Lanka home with more than 31 overs remaining.